This invention relates to liners for skate and ski boots and the like.
Sport boots, such as for in-line skates and skis, typically have shells formed of a rigid material, such as molded plastic. Inner booties or liners are generally provided for such boots, for cushioning, comfort and fit.
Some sport boots are adjustable in length to accommodate feet of different sizes, such as the in-line skate boot disclosed in my pending U.S. Application Ser. No. 09/017,420, filed Feb. 2, 1998. Adjustability of the size of sport boots advantageously lowers the number of skates needed to be kept as inventory by rental facilities, for instance, enables such boots to be readily shared, and also reduces the number of boots needed over the course of a child""s growth.
Summary of the Invention
The invention described herein features an improved liner for adjustable sport boots, such as those having rigid shells which enclose the wearer""s foot, which is adapted to provide an inner cushion for the shell.
According to one aspect, the liner includes a fore portion and a heel portion. The fore portion has a fore upper and a fore sole, the fore upper and fore sole together defining a toe box, and a liner tongue extending rearward from the toe box. The heel portion has a heel upper and a heel sole, and defines a cavity for receiving a heel of a wearer. The fore and heel portions have respective surfaces arranged to overlap each other in use, the amount of overlap of the respective surfaces being adjustable for accommodating feet of different sizes.
Various embodiments may contain one or more of the following features. The respective surfaces include portions of respective side walls of the fore and heel uppers extending upward from the fore and heel soles, respectively. Inner surfaces of the side walls of the fore upper engage outer surfaces of the side walls of the heel upper. The fore sole is arranged to overlap the heel sole in use. The respective surfaces carry mating fasteners (such as hook-and-loop fasteners) arranged for releasable engagement. Both the fore and heel portions are constructed of a foam-padded tricot material. The amount of overlap of the respective surfaces is adjustable over a range of at least about xc2xd inch. One of the fore sole and heel sole carries a series of indicia (such as standard shoe size indications) corresponding to the amount of overlap, as adjusted, of the respective surfaces. The fore upper extends rearward to cover either side of an ankle of the wearer.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a useful combination of the above-described liner and a skate having a boot with a rigid shell and a wheeled chassis. The boot shell is adapted to enclose a wearer""s foot and have overlapping toe and heel portions, the amount of overlap of the toe and heel portions being adjustable for accommodating feet of different sizes. The liner is disposed within the boot shell, but is removable from the shell for adjustment.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a method of adjusting the size of a skate, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing the above-described combination skate and liner;
(b) adjusting the overlap of the respective surfaces of the fore and heel portions of the liner to accommodate a wearer""s foot; and
(c) adjusting the overlap of the toe and heel portions of the boot shell to accommodate the wearer""s foot.
The method includes, in some embodiments and between steps (a) and (b), the step of (d) removing the liner from the skate boot shell and, after step (c), the step of (e) returning the adjusted liner to the boot shell.
The method includes, in some embodiments and between steps (a) and (b), the step of (d) removing the liner from the skate boot shell and, between steps (b) and (c), the step of (e) returning the adjusted liner to the boot shell.
The liner of the invention can provide an acceptable level of support and padding in multiple, easily selectable and adjustable size configurations. Besides enabling multiple users a more accommodating fit in a single pair of sport boots, the invention is also useful for adapting a single pair of boots to a single child through multiple shoe sizes. Instead of having to buy liners of different sizes, users may adjust a single liner as needed.